Ruminations

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Good news: JMM did the income tax and we are getting a refund. Our income tax is incredibly simple to do these days: 2 Social Security statements, 2 Fidelity 1099Rs, and one Primeway 1099I. Download TurboTax and plug in the numbers, file electronically. And we get a nice refund. Yea!

I am perking right along on my Dutch Churn and Dash quilt top. I think it will look very nice. Probably going to send it to my niece, Brenda.

Lots of good reading: Finished Eisenhower: Soldier and President by Stephen Ambrose. It was just excellent. I especially enjoyed and learned so much about his Presidency, some good, some not so good things. Now I am reading Madison Park by Eric Motley. It is a memoir of his growing up in Madison Park, Alabama which was and still is an all black community founded just after the civil war by freed slaves. Excellent. And finally, I am reading my every other year Danielle Steele novel where the distressed damsel finds her way through difficult times. Reading D.S. is like eating chocolate covered cherries— good in moderation.

It is unseasonably warm here. In fact, I have the air-conditioning on. Last night, I didn’t sleep well because of the warm, humid air even with the fan on, it was just too muggy to sleep.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

I’m calling about the US Dept. of Health and Human Services new division that condones discrimination against our own citizens. The denial of medical treatment is unconscionable and risks our neighbors’ lives. I don’t want providers who discriminate to receive governmental compensation. I oppose religion based discrimination.

Thank You note to Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)

Thank You for your commitment to bipartisanship and dialog. I’m especially grateful for your recent efforts to gather senators of both parties and find a solution to keep 800,000 Dreamers stateside. In times of increasing polarization, your leadership is even more remarkable. Thank you.

Address: 68 Sewall Street, Room 507, Augusta, ME 04330

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥

Emailed Rep. Pete Olson and Senators Cornyn and Cruz:

I’m concerned about the president’s anti-immigrant agenda. People who immigrate to the U.S. from other countries bring new jobs, create new business, and enrich our communities. I want you to support the Dream Act (S.1615/H.R. 3440), family unification, and no funding for a wasteful wall or surplus border staffing. Thank you.

Thank You note to Sheriff Stacey A. Kincaid (D-VA):

Thank You for terminating an agreement with ICE to hold inmates beyond the duration of their jail sentences to enable possible deportation. I am also grateful that ICE must now produce a court-issued criminal detainer to hold any person. I appreciate your decision to respect and protect the precious few rights of undocumented people.

Address: 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, VA 22030

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥

Called Senators Cornyn and Cruz:

I’m calling about The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). I can’t understand why Mick Mulvaney would dismantle an agency that has given $12 billion in restitution to 29 million consumers in 6 years. I expect my government to protect me and my neighbors from predatory and discriminatory lenders. So, I am asking you for two things. First, I would like you to hold Mr. Mulvaney accountable for this failure to protect consumers. Second, when S. 2155 goes to the floor, I would like them to oppose it. Dodd-Frank protects Americans. Thank you.

Thank you note to Senator Lindsey Graham:

Thank You for opposing Stephen Miller’s role in the negotiations over immigration and working in a bipartisan way. Thank you.

Dear Sec. Azar, I’m writing about Scott Lloyd, Director of Refugee Resettlement. Any person who blocks women’s access to legal abortion and legal council does not respect the law. His attempts to intervene during one woman’s abortion is outrageous and unacceptable. Please show common decency and dismiss Scott Lloyd. Thank you.

Thank you notes to:

Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

Thank You for seeing through the RAISE Family Caregivers Act that the president recently signed into law. Thank you for addressing the needs of caregivers, along with aging people and people with disabilities who receive care and want to stay in their own homes.

Address (SC): 68 Sewall Street, Room 507, Augusta, ME 04330

Address (TB): 633 W. Wisconsin Ave, Suite 1920, Milwaukee, WI 53203

🔥Resistance. Every. Day.🔥🔥

Email to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross:

A citizenship question on the 2020 Census is unreasonable. Your reasoning for it is a thinly-veiled re-wording of the president’s unfounded claims about fraudulent voting by undocumented people. Mr. Ross, citizenship data is already collected by the American Community Survey. Changing the Census will cost the American taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars and create measurably worse results. It will deny countless people appropriate representation in Congress. Beyond pleasing the president, no agenda could be worth spending money on duplicate work, especially while basic funding and leadership needs in the Census Bureau go unmet. Reconsider. Thank you.

Thank you note to Senators John McCain and Chris Coons:

Thank you for developing a bipartisan immigration bill that protects Dreamers without funding a wall. I appreciate your bipartisanship and standing up for our neighbors. Thank you.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

I did not sleep well last night. Cats kept waking me up and then I couldn’t go back to sleep. Anyway, thank goodness for podcasts and books on Hoopla so that I have something to listen to during the sleepless time. I did take a nap this afternoon and that really helped.

I started piecing the first two blocks of my Dutch Churn and Dash quilt. More accurately, I figured out the procedure for the piecing and marked the first two blocks. Doesn’t look too difficult. (Famous last words.)

I am reading Eisenhower: Soldier and President by Stephen Ambrose. Although Harry Truman was President until I was 5 years old, Eisenhower is the first President that I remember. And I remember feeling so secure in my childhood that I think of him with great admiration and respect. I must admit being disappointed in two areas: his refusal to disavow McCarthy and his lack of interest in Civil Rights. I suppose he was a person of his time and that must be taken into consideration.

It has been unusually warm the past few days. I have the bedroom windows open and am listening to frogs singing. It has been very overcast and tomorrow there is a good chance of rain. Fortunately, we don’t have to go anywhere.

My new electric blanket was delivered today and it is even better than the old one. It is lighter and softer. I have it on the bed though I won’t need it tonight.

Tuesday, February 6, 2018

This morning JMM and I went in to TSO for our annual eye exams. We both needed both new lenses and new frames. The new frames are needed because the frames of both of our “back-up” pairs of glasses broke this year. $420 for two pairs of glasses with new frames is about what I had anticipated. We’ve been going to the same eye doctor for the last 12 years so he knows us quite well. He noted that I am developing cataracts but I do not yet need cataract surgery. Good.

I have finished cutting out the pieces for the 30 blocks for my next quilt. Next I can start piecing the blocks. Duffy, of course, was on the table supervising.

I finished reading Saving Tarboo Creek by Scott Freeman. I thoroughly enjoyed it. In these days of environmental degradation, I found it soothing to read about a family and their dedication to restoring a piece of the earth.

I am having a difficult time adjusting to life without my sweet Misty. She was my sleeping partner. And her usual place of residence was either on my bed or in my closet and I am still unsettled when I see that she is not there.